What is this? A concave Alexander Severus Sestertius

I just opened the envelope to look at my latest eBay-purchase and I found this:

On the seller´s pictures it looked just like an average, worn and cleaned Sestertius of Alex Severus, something I found nice enough to try out for 40 USD:



But the second I opened the envelope I noticed something very odd...



The whole thing is concave! The obverse is bulged outwards for about 2 mm while the reverse is dented in.





Why would someone do this? I have seen concave Greek Imperial bronzes, but never to this extent on a Rome mint Sestertius.
Has this coin been hammered into this concave shape in (late) ancient times (maybe as some kind of pre-Contornitate)?
Or is this the work of a modern smith?
Is this coin even genuine at all? The edge has obviously endured a lot of filing.

Is this something nice / interesting to have?
Or would you send it back?

 

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If it is genuine I would think it was used for jewelry.

 

I don't like that edge--that by itself is enough for me to not want the coin, even if it weren't unexpectedly concave.

Not that I would have a big problem with it being concave if it were described that way and priced to reflect it (problem coins are my bread and butter), but that it wasn't revealed in the description rubs me the wrong way.

 

It was edged and hammered to make a decoration inset in something but I can't prove when it was done. My gut feeling is within the last century or two rather than ancient. I see no reason to doubt the coin being ancient and would love to see what it once was set into.

 

I totally agree

 

Hammered to concave? How is that possible without damage to the reverse?

 

Urethane hammer and anvil.

 

I agree, I put the coin back where it probably came from:

 

Wow. Being that the coin is already damaged, I think it looks great now. Nice pendant.

 

For ten seconds I actually believed it was mine

My dad has an old bench vise machine at home and I think about trying to "flatten out" this coin a little bit over the weekend (I would place it between strips of wood before squeezing it).

Do you think this is a good idea or would this result in a flan crack?

 

Bad idea! Sell the coin and buy one you can accept in your collection. You have a crack now. A vise could give you two halves.

 

It's a spectacularly bad idea. The metal will be brittle (age hardened) and there is already a network of cracks. You'd end up with a bunch of pieces.

 

That coin is a mess. Sell it if you can, if not give it to a kid and get a better example.

 

I like it. Not an expert opinion, but I think it is ancient with modern modifications (I say "modern" because the modifications are so systematic - most of the altered ancients I've seen have a crude hole and not much else - but again, not an expert).

As for its "keep-ability" - I look at damaged ancient coins the way I look at The Venus de Milo or the Winged Victory of Samothrace - yeah, they are damaged, but they are still spectacular works of art. In this case, you have a really fine portrait of Alexander Severus, with exceptionally fine lettering for that period. The other nice thing is that damaged coins are usually cheap coins. I'd be happy to have this one in my collection. Nice find.

And yeah, do not try to flatten it. Like Humpty Dumpty, you won't be able to put it back together again.